21 famous couples who got hitched in secret

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker did have a very lavish wedding in Italy that the whole world knew about, but before that, they got hitched in private in Las Vegas. The quick ceremony totally fit their vibe. 

Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst had been together for years and already had two kids together by the time they got married, so it seemed as though they already were wed. But they weren't, and they tied the knot in a secret ceremony in 2022. 

Jay-Z and Beyoncé got married in a top-secret affair. The event was held at Jay-Z's penthouse in New York City, and only 40 people were in attendance. 

No fooling here: Anya Taylor-Joy married her husband, musician Malcolm McRae, in secret on April Fools’ Day in 2022. The Dune actress didn’t reveal the news for two years, sharing pictures from the big day on Instagram. A secret April Fools’ Day wedding is certainly a unique idea. 

Uzo Aduba waited a year to tell fans that she had gotten married. The actress wed Robert Sweeting in a private ceremony in New York, and fans of Aduba weren’t surprised to learn the news, given she and Sweeting keep their relationship mostly out of the public eye. 

When Johnny Galecki was featured in Architectural Digest in 2024, he revealed that he had gotten married to his partner, Morgan, and that she had welcomed the couple’s first child together. Revealing via an exclusive interview that you’ve secretly gotten married and have another child is a great celebrity move. 

John Corbett and Bo Derek had been together without being married for so long that it seemed that they’d be a couple like Goldie and Russell or Oprah and Stedman for the rest of time, but they had a different plan. The actor and model got married in secret during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they kept the news under wraps for several months. 

Tatiana Maslany married Brendan Hines in a private ceremony after rumors had swirled about their relationship for years. The Orphan Black actress shared the news while making an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert . 

Jonathan Van Ness lives his life out loud, but he kept one major piece of it to himself for a while. The Queer Eye star got married in secret and casually dropped the news in an Instagram caption to round up his 2020. Not everyone was in the dark, though, as some of his co-stars knew and commented on their excitement of being able to celebrate publicly. 

Michael Phelps got through his last Olympic games without anyone finding out that he had a wife. It wasn’t too outlandish a feat considering the world knew he was engaged, but it’s still impressive that he didn’t slip and call her his wife until after the competition had ended. 

Anna Faris’ first marriage was very public, but she changed her tune for her second. The Mom star mentioned on an episode of her podcast in 2021 that she and Michael Barrett had eloped, noting that, because of their ages, they didn’t need a big party. 

Lindsay Lohan got married in secret, revealing the news via Instagram in 2022, and she’s still coy about the details. The actress has yet to share exactly when and where she and Bader Shammas wed, as well as what she wore and who was in attendance. 

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s love story is among the most fascinating in Hollywood. The two got back together decades after a failed engagement, and they finally sealed the deal with a Las Vegas wedding that they managed to keep from leaking ahead of time. 

COVID-19 had people — famous and not — doing things they might not have done otherwise. Actor Don Cheadle married his longtime partner and the mother of his children, Bridgid Coulter, in a private ceremony during the pandemic, and he didn’t reveal the news until he made an appearance on Ellen the following year. 

Melanie Lynskey and Jason Ritter got married in a ceremony on their front porch in 2020, but they didn’t reveal the news to the world until 2022. The two got married after being wrongly advised that they needed to be a formal couple to get into Canada ahead of Lynskey filming Yellowjackets there, but they don’t seem to regret their decision. 

Issa Rae married Louis Diame in a private ceremony in the south of France and announced the news on Instagram. Many followers thought she was kidding, but the Insecure star was very serious indeed and is very seriously married. 

Jon Batiste married Suleika Jaouad in a private ceremony at home after learning some major and concerning health news. Jaouad was diagnosed with leukemia. But as Batiste noted, her diagnosis didn’t push him to propose, it was just cosmic timing. 

James McAvoy married Lisa Liberati in secret, revealing the news in an interview in 2022. How they met, and their marital status is about all that’s known about the couple, as they’ve made a concerted effort to keep their relationship private. 

Jenny Slate and Ben Shattuck planned to marry in a big ceremony, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they repeatedly had to postpone their plans. The couple ended up tying the knot in an ultra-private ceremony at home. 

Sarah Snook kept the news of her marriage to Dave Lawson secret for a while until sharing in an interview that they had wed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Snook had proposed, and they held their private ceremony at her Brooklyn home. 

Kristen Wiig married Avi Rothman at some point, but that’s about all that’s known about their nuptials. Wiig shared the news by referring to Rothman as her husband in an interview in 2021, and they haven’t offered up any other details since.